Classic Gingerbread Cake

The local county fair was held earlier this month and I thought I'd try a couple of new recipes and enter them in the Open Class Baking Division.

One of the recipes I made was gingerbread cake. It was from a pin on Pinterest that linked to Dinner Then Dessert. I added the applesauce (an optional ingredient) as well as crystallized ginger. The judge commented that she liked the crystallized ginger. I won first prize for this cake.

It's a very moist and flavorful cake. I made it again today and used fresh ginger instead of crystallized ginger. Both add an extra kick to the cake. Perhaps next time I will do a triple-ginger version (dry, crystallized, and fresh).

Here's the recipe that serves 12:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 egg
• 1 cup unsulphured molasses
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup applesauce (optional, but will add to moistness of cake)
• 1 cup hot water
• Crystallized ginger (optional and an amount that you prefer)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use baking spray with a 9 inch square pan (I used a round pan because I didn't have a square pan).

In a stand mixer, cream together the sugar and butter until lightened in color and fluffy. Beat in the egg, and mix in the molasses until fully combined.

Add the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves until just combined. With a whisk, add in the hot water and applesauce (using the stand mixer would make a mess with the water and pouring in the water slowly would cause the flour to over-mix).

Bake for 40-45 minutes in the preheated oven until the cake springs back up when touched or a knife comes out clean.

Enjoy!